This background provides context for the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated, material described in this section is not prior art to the claims in this disclosure and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Digital inking technology enables a device display to digitally represent strokes from a stylus or an active pen in a natural form on the display, analogous to writing with liquid ink on paper. The resulting visual representations may be saved as searchable text and images or, in the case of handwriting, may be converted to typed text. As mobile devices become more powerful and can be used for drawing, sketching, writing, editing, and other creative applications, this technology has become more common. Digital inking allows users to use their own natural movements to captures sketches, handwriting, diagrams, and other content on their devices. Even in applications and environments that are primarily pen-centric, such as drafting and note-taking, existing digital ink user interfaces require users to switch from using an active pen for digital inking to using the active pen for touchscreen interaction or to switch from a stylus or active pen to a different input method. For example, users may have to either perform a sequence of pen interactions with an onscreen command user interface or switch to a touchscreen mode to perform navigation and command tasks. These approaches are often cumbersome to use and take users out of their natural flow of using the pen for making ink strokes.